This disclosure relates generally to a warning sign system. A complete listing of prior art, referenced by Examiners in the cross-referenced applications, is included in an Information Disclosure Statement filed herewith. However, none of the known inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant disclosure as claimed. Accordingly, an improved warning sign system would be advantageous.
In general, previous articulated, customizable signs fall into several US Classes including: 1 16, 73, D10 and D20. At this moment no class description could be found which includes the concepts of warning signs with special utility or application toward instantaneous display of specific predetermined topic-related displays by means of RFID systems or web-related QR codes. Searching in April 2011 confirmed the existence of about 113 grants with the text string “warning sign” in the claims. Upon close inspection, none was found which discloses or claims dynamic security systems with real-time web links especially configured for support of first-responders in accidents or terrorist attacks. Presumably, if there were applications which disclose actual apparatus, methods and systems similar to those of the present invention, they would already be held as secret within the USPTO under national security provisions, 35 USC 181.
Global political and economic conditions now require extraordinary security for oil and gas facilities, especially remote wells, pipelines and field-processing sites. Part of this challenge is to provide reliable, secure, instant access to infrastructure records, data and emergency procedures to authenticated individuals having a confirmed need to know and to federal/state governmental agencies, especially the US Dept. of Homeland Security. Normal safety aspects toward the adjoining communities, e.g., warning signs and standard response procedures for a well are typically covered by the property owner or licensee. Compliance of each site with state and industry codes (API, American Petroleum Institute) for natural gas-production is confirmed by regular inspections required by the controlling state and local agencies, e.g., TX-RRC. The required API number display consists of 14 digits with 4 separator dashes which specifies the state, the county, the unique well identifier, 2 sidetrack digits and 2 event/sequence code characters. In case of a major emergency at a particular location, US federal agencies may also be involved under “Emergency Support Function #9”.
In case of an accident or a terrorist attack on a remote gas-production facility, all emergency responders need a simple, quick, universal system to provide their crews with detailed, updated technical data on many important matters including: property control-ownership, health and safety risks, emergency-contact data for responsible managers 1 supervisors, building drawings, wiring and electrical power equipment locations, piping and control valves for fluids handled at the site, dangerous materials storage, etc.
In contrast to past practice of merely posting a minimal, API-compliant, flat metal ID sign near the well-head or pipeline access, the present warning system includes an active display of wind direction and velocity are the possible formation of a drift plume due to accidental release of hazardous gases. In addition, the apparatus confirms the visitor's identity, facilitates RFID data interchanges and enables secure web links to offsite data on selected critical factors pertinent to accidents at the site. The present invention is an integrated warning and security system for gas production facilities which is also able to confirm the identity of each emergency responder prior to allowing wireless display, on a laptop computer, of information critical for a range of particular emergency-management scenarios.
A number of US Federal agencies, particularly DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security), are active in monitoring sites where dangerous materials or toxic chemicals are handled in order to assist in prevention of terror attacks and managing emergency responses in case of a situation which may threaten the health of regional populations. These agencies include: Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and U.S. Agency for International Development.
The present invention is an apparatus and advanced system of information display adjacent the entrance of a site where large quantities of toxic fluids may be released in an accident or by terrorist attack. The displays of the system are configured to present just the appropriate information reasonable and specific to the particular visitor's purpose. For example a gas-production-reporting compliance inspector for a State Resources Commission would not be interested in complex modeling data on the probable extent and concentration profiles of a toxic-release plume under certain weather conditions—which would be critical for high-level FEMA managers. The following discloses apparatus and inherent-intrinsic use methods thereof along with a system of triage-ordered display sequences of action items tailored especially to meet the needs of visitors including: regular business calls, regulatory and law enforcement site visitors as well as those of possible emergency responders.
Few other moments in recent history present such challenges for conventional signage and hazard displays. In the case of a facility drawing massive quantities of hydrocarbons from deep within the earth or ocean, the technology for fluid recovery has far outstretched the capability for dealing with massive accidental or intentional releases above ground. Effective emergency management depends upon having a response plan ahead of time which anticipates the probable scenarios and identifies and ranks the optimal responses. These were the missing links in dealing with the recent release of crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico.